I had read much about how great Hildago was and how so many more people in Paris were cycling. But when I went there last year cycle lanes were poorly used and a lot rarer than I would have thought before my visit. We were there 3 weeks and I never felt like getting on a bike to get around despite having just spent time in Blankanese in Hamburg where cycle infrastructure was also poor but it felt safer to jump on a bike. Before that I had 3 weeks in Amsterdam mostly on a bike. Paris is no Amsterdam, not even close.
I agree with Louise Raclet's reply. Tbh I also still find that Paris is a polluted chaotic car hell compared to Copenhagen, Berlin, even partly to Warsaw (which at least has proper sidewalks and quiet inner blocks).
What struck me tho when I was there last year, vs. 10-15 years ago, is that while strolling around randomly, I did bump into quiet car-free streets filled with human vibrancy (for example along the canal). These had an amazing atmosphere - which I never found on earlier visits.
So I think it's fair to praise the pace of improvement, even if yup can't compare even to Berlin (don't know Amsterdam).
I'm actually curious why you say Poland is the exception - I see huge improvements in cycling infrastructure, but also what I don't like in Poland is that the space for bike lanes is usually taken out of sidewalks and gets in the way of walkability. Paris laudably takes it away from cars -- tho to be fair, maybe because the sidewalks are often narrow.
There seems to be some effort into cycling going on in Poland. My experience of it was in Gdansk rather than Warsaw and it was a nice ride up from Gdansk to Sopot for example. And near friends on the outskirts of Warsaw and in the central city it was clear that there was some effort going into it.
In regards to Paris we were located in Pantin while we were there and although there was some effort going on there as well I'm not sure if it was good enough and the part between the town itself, chaotic with trains & cars as the main transport, and the canal which was in process of being gentrified with a very different resident than just 400m away well the streets were calm enough but there were hardly any bikes both there or on the canal. And the bikes being ridden on the canal, well the cyclists were mainly white Europeans and Pantin itself is nothing of the sort.
I guess we can hope. I am a little uncertain on how to make very large cities cycle friendly. Dunedin (140k population) is easy to imagine but Melbourne (5m or so) is quite a different prospect.
Cycling is having a renaissance at the moment but the implementation of what has happened in Netherlands (or Copenhagen) elsewhere is mostly very poor. In my experience the exception is Poland. But elsewhere the cycle lanes are token and I put Paris in that category as well. Cycling needs to reach out beyond the upper middle class left wing jurisdiction. As in the Netherlands it needs to be supported by the right as well. But even in the Netherlands there is room for improvement. Elsewhere the cycle lanes will disappear overnight at some time in the future. And I hate to mention them but WEF is behind a lot of current promotion of cycling. And that's a red rag to a bull for the right.
Thanks for taking the time to engage with the article. It’s not meant to praise any one city, but to create space for constructive discussion about cycling transitions. Paris should not be put on a pedestal or directly compared to Amsterdam. What makes Paris particularly interesting is not that it has everything figured out, quite the opposite. Unlike Amsterdam, where cycling is deeply embedded in the culture and infrastructure and has been for decades, Paris is in the middle of a messy, also controversial transition.
Cycling development is, indeed, a journey of trial and error, public debate, and political tension. And that’s precisely why Paris can be relatable and inspiring for other cities still finding their way. It may not be perfect, but the direction of change matters, and a lot can be learnt from watching it unfold in real time.
I had read much about how great Hildago was and how so many more people in Paris were cycling. But when I went there last year cycle lanes were poorly used and a lot rarer than I would have thought before my visit. We were there 3 weeks and I never felt like getting on a bike to get around despite having just spent time in Blankanese in Hamburg where cycle infrastructure was also poor but it felt safer to jump on a bike. Before that I had 3 weeks in Amsterdam mostly on a bike. Paris is no Amsterdam, not even close.
I agree with Louise Raclet's reply. Tbh I also still find that Paris is a polluted chaotic car hell compared to Copenhagen, Berlin, even partly to Warsaw (which at least has proper sidewalks and quiet inner blocks).
What struck me tho when I was there last year, vs. 10-15 years ago, is that while strolling around randomly, I did bump into quiet car-free streets filled with human vibrancy (for example along the canal). These had an amazing atmosphere - which I never found on earlier visits.
So I think it's fair to praise the pace of improvement, even if yup can't compare even to Berlin (don't know Amsterdam).
I'm actually curious why you say Poland is the exception - I see huge improvements in cycling infrastructure, but also what I don't like in Poland is that the space for bike lanes is usually taken out of sidewalks and gets in the way of walkability. Paris laudably takes it away from cars -- tho to be fair, maybe because the sidewalks are often narrow.
There seems to be some effort into cycling going on in Poland. My experience of it was in Gdansk rather than Warsaw and it was a nice ride up from Gdansk to Sopot for example. And near friends on the outskirts of Warsaw and in the central city it was clear that there was some effort going into it.
In regards to Paris we were located in Pantin while we were there and although there was some effort going on there as well I'm not sure if it was good enough and the part between the town itself, chaotic with trains & cars as the main transport, and the canal which was in process of being gentrified with a very different resident than just 400m away well the streets were calm enough but there were hardly any bikes both there or on the canal. And the bikes being ridden on the canal, well the cyclists were mainly white Europeans and Pantin itself is nothing of the sort.
Yet.
I guess we can hope. I am a little uncertain on how to make very large cities cycle friendly. Dunedin (140k population) is easy to imagine but Melbourne (5m or so) is quite a different prospect.
Cycling is having a renaissance at the moment but the implementation of what has happened in Netherlands (or Copenhagen) elsewhere is mostly very poor. In my experience the exception is Poland. But elsewhere the cycle lanes are token and I put Paris in that category as well. Cycling needs to reach out beyond the upper middle class left wing jurisdiction. As in the Netherlands it needs to be supported by the right as well. But even in the Netherlands there is room for improvement. Elsewhere the cycle lanes will disappear overnight at some time in the future. And I hate to mention them but WEF is behind a lot of current promotion of cycling. And that's a red rag to a bull for the right.
Thanks for taking the time to engage with the article. It’s not meant to praise any one city, but to create space for constructive discussion about cycling transitions. Paris should not be put on a pedestal or directly compared to Amsterdam. What makes Paris particularly interesting is not that it has everything figured out, quite the opposite. Unlike Amsterdam, where cycling is deeply embedded in the culture and infrastructure and has been for decades, Paris is in the middle of a messy, also controversial transition.
Cycling development is, indeed, a journey of trial and error, public debate, and political tension. And that’s precisely why Paris can be relatable and inspiring for other cities still finding their way. It may not be perfect, but the direction of change matters, and a lot can be learnt from watching it unfold in real time.